Forty monkeys escaped from a laboratory in the United States, the police are actively searching for them

UNUSUAL – An escape like no other. A group of around 40 laboratory monkeys escaped from an Alpha Genesis group site in Beaufort County, South Carolina. Since then, local authorities have been actively searching for them and have issued advice to residents on what to do if they come face to face with a fugitive.

It was in a post on social media that the Yemassee City Police Department announced that it was working with laboratory staff to recover the primates on the run. Research teams were deployed to find these rhesus macaques, in particular by “attractive with food”indicated the authorities.

Earlier in the day, the macaques, described by police as “fearful”had escaped from their enclosure at the company which specializes in biomedical research on primates. Traps have been set up to attract the monkeys and thermal cameras are being used to try to locate them.

Police are urging residents to keep their doors and windows closed to prevent these animals from entering homes and to call them if they see any of the monkeys. “If you spot any of the escaped animals, please call 911 immediately and do not approach them », Completes the publication before specifying that all of the macaques are young females weighing up to 3 kg and which were not used for tests. “An Alpha Genesis spokesperson confirmed that these animals are too young to carry disease”reassures the press release.

Not the first monkey escape

Company boss Greg Westergaard told CBS News the escape was «frustrating» and that he hoped “a happy ending” with the primates returning on their own.

He also revealed that the macaques fled when an employee forgot to lock the door to their enclosure. “Then it’s really like following the leader. We see one leave, then the others leave”he declared. “It was a group of 50 specimens, of which 7 remained in the enclosure and 43 rushed towards the door,” concluded Greg Westergaard.

The newspaper The Post and Courier reported that Alpha Genesis won a federal contract to oversee a colony of 3,500 rhesus macaques on South Carolina's Morgan Island, known as « Monkey Island ».

The group is registered with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a primate importer, which means it must meet standards for importing, quarantining and using monkeys.

Eight years ago, 19 primates escaped from Alpha Genesis facilities but were recaptured about six hours later, says the same article in the Post and Courrier.

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